Kevin Durant To Re-Sign With Nike

In a a move that not many expected to be made, Nike has outbid Under Armour to keep sneaker free agent Kevin Durant with the Swoosh. Under Armour was offering a deal that could have paid KD up to $30 million per year, however, Nike responded with a monster deal of their own offering KD a deal that will now pay him between $265-$300 million over the next 10 years, the deal also includes royalties.

Durant’s new deal will launch his brand to a new level, this move is definitely a game changer when it comes to athlete-sneaker deals.

Nike, whose seven-year deal that guaranteed Durant $60 million is expiring, made an initial offer of about $20 million a year that was far from what Durant was looking for. Under Armour’s huge play for Durant had many believing that Nike would even let him go at that price.

The overall value of Durant’s deal with Nike could hit $300 million or more if his business continues to rise. That number is flexible as he will get a royalty on all sales in his line.

On Saturday, Nike officials told Durant and his team at Jay Z’s Roc Nation Sports that it would indeed step up enough to allow the world’s largest shoe and apparel company to keep him in its robust stable of basketball endorsers that includes LeBron James and Kobe Bryant.

While the exact Nike offer for Durant isn’t known, sources told ESPN that Durant should make more — in base and royalties — than the Thunder will pay him over the next two seasons ($41.2 million). That’s why fans in Oklahoma City were nervous about a possible move to Under Armour, which could have steered him more to returning to his local roots to play for theWashington Wizards when he becomes a free agent after the 2015-16 season.